Autopilot - tips?

[joe21]

I need help with the "Follow" mode.
Do I see it correctly that Follow only works when it is following the RC? What if I would like the drone to follow e.g. a horseback rider so I can concentrate on getting the right shot?
Thanks.

Get "Airspace" (free from the AP team and designed to work with AP).

Details are in the manual. Long story short... you hold the RC and fly the Phantom. Person on horseback has a device (i.e. iPhone) with Airspace installed. Phantom will lock onto their "Airspace" device as a follow object or focus point.

Very simple to setup.

 

[Tucker04]

I downloaded the autopilot app to. The app works great. I normally calibrate my compass in the dji go app, then I check all my waypoints in the Autopilot app, then once I made sure there are no trees or anything in the way I go to my flight dash board check my connected gps, and then I finally take off by pushing the engage button. Make sure you move your poi flag or focus trigger to the object you want to keep in your cameras view.

 

[Kraut55]

Thanks, guys.

 

[Basspond]

I used autopilot the other day to shoot running footage of my boat and it worked perfectly. I have the RC sitting on the console in front of me, autopilot is flying the phantom while I drive the boat.

 

[2nd2non]

I need help with the "Follow" mode.
Do I see it correctly that Follow only works when it is following the RC? What if I would like the drone to follow e.g. a horseback rider so I can concentrate on getting the right shot?
Thanks.

You could use their Airspace feature and give another iOS cellular device to the horseback rider. This would allow you to track the rider automatically.

 

[Zigs]

I need help with the "Follow" mode.
Do I see it correctly that Follow only works when it is following the RC? What if I would like the drone to follow e.g. a horseback rider so I can concentrate on getting the right shot?
Thanks.

I haven't tried it, but there is an Autoflight app called Airspace. Load it on an iPhone and you can use that as the target. I'm planning on trying it soon, myself. BTW, it looks like it works best with a device that has a barometer which would include the iPhone 6 or later.

-- zigs

 

[Hangar]

We have some big news...LCMC is coming to Autopilot! We are still testing the feature internally, but it should be available for external testing shortly. It is important to note that some features in Waypoint Mode will be disabled when using LCMC.

 

[With The Birds]

We have some big news...LCMC is coming to Autopilot! We are still testing the feature internally, but it should be available for external testing shortly. It is important to note that some features in Waypoint Mode will be disabled when using LCMC.

This is good news no doubt. Fantastic news would be to learn that DJI had released new firmware to correct the broken RTH with your custom flight controller. Any updates?

 

[Tenly]

We have some big news...LCMC is coming to Autopilot! We are still testing the feature internally, but it should be available for external testing shortly. It is important to note that some features in Waypoint Mode will be disabled when using LCMC.

That's awesome! I can't wait to try it!

BTW - I found a bug today that hopefully you've already found and corrected - but in case you haven't, I'll mention it here:

I was creating a waypoint mission. I created about 12 waypoints - and then went back to the first one to assign altitude and speed. At each waypoint, I wanted to hover and take a picture also.

Now to be honest - when flying the mission - nothing worked like I expected and the camera aim was all over the place with the aircraft yawing at strange times - but that's not what I'm calling a bug. It's possible that was my fault.

Back to the bug. Ok, so - after I set the altitude and speed on Waypoint 1, I clicked next to go to Waypoint 2 and then clicked Previous, Previous for Altitude and Speed - and then clicked Hover. The instant I clicked Hover - the value for speed changed from "Previous" to "Input". That's the bug. When clicking "Hover" for a waypoint action - the value for Speed changes to "Input" regardless of whether it was set to "Previous" or the other setting.

As for the behaviour I saw when I executed the waypoint mission - I'm not sure if it was a bug or not. Unfortunately I didn't save the mission - but for the Focus parameters I had selected "Direction" relative to "Course" at 270degrees. Each waypoint was set for 75m, 35km/h, hover for 5 seconds, start camera photo HDR, 3 seconds.

First of all - I'm not sure I understand that the 3 seconds is for.

But what I saw as this ran was that drone would fly to a waypoint at the correct speed and yaw - and when it arrived - it would begin to higher, then start yawing and the picture got snapped during the yaw (so they all came out very blurry).

It was almost like the camera action when attached to they waypoint (or the hover action) did not respect my focus strategy for the mission and while it was hovering, preparing to take the photo - it wanted to point the drone in the direction of the next waypoint instead of honouring my focus strategy directive "direction 270degrees relative to course".

Is that clear...? Now that i type it out in detail - I do think that this is also a bug. To recap - the drone flies from one waypoint to the next yawed 270degrees (as expected). But when it arrives at the waypoint - it *should* hover and take a photo - but just before it takes the photo, it begins to yaw. I think it's unwinding the 270degree yaw so that it can point at the next waypoint.

Have either, or both of those problems already been discovered/reported and corrected for the next release? If not - please investigate!

 

[Hangar]

This is good news no doubt. Fantastic news would be to learn that DJI had released new firmware to correct the broken RTH with your custom flight controller. Any updates?

No updates since the update on April 8. To clarify however, if you enable LCMC, Autopilot will not be affected by the RTH issue.

Now to be honest - when flying the mission - nothing worked like I expected and the camera aim was all over the place with the aircraft yawing at strange times - but that's not what I'm calling a bug. It's possible that was my fault.

Did you verify the flight behavior beforehand with the path inspector? If you think there is an issue, please email the flight plan to [email protected].

The instant I clicked Hover - the value for speed changed from "Previous" to "Input". That's the bug.

We actually implemented this behavior by design. The idea is that Waypoint Actions imply that the aircraft will need to stop at the waypoint to perform some action. Autopilot automatically changes the speed to input, and sets the speed to the minimum value so that the aircraft won't overshoot the waypoint by coming in too hot. If you want to move the speed back up, you can but it will probably result in a less than desirable fly behavior (overshooting).

As for the behavior I saw when I executed the waypoint mission - I'm not sure if it was a bug or not. Unfortunately I didn't save the mission - but for the Focus parameters I had selected "Direction" relative to "Course" at 270degrees. Each waypoint was set for 75m, 35km/h, hover for 5 seconds, start camera photo HDR, 3 seconds.

This is probably related to the overshooting issue. It looks like you must have changed the speed of the Waypoint back to 35 km/h, thus causing the aircraft to overshoot. The Waypoint Action timer starts the instant the aircraft passes through the Waypoint, and in your case the aircraft had to turn back around to get back to the Waypoint after it overshot. Since the focus strategy was set to direction / course, and the course was now going back the opposite direction (flying back toward the waypoint), it was technically doing what it was told to do. In the future we may add logic to the flight controller to avoid the overshooting by performing mandatory deceleration (even though you have asked it to fly at 35 km/h), but for now you need to specify the incoming speed yourself (or leave it at the speed Autopilot chooses when you enable the Waypoint Action).

 

[Tenly]

No updates since the update on April 8. To clarify however, if you enable LCMC, Autopilot will not be affected by the RTH issue.


Did you verify the flight behavior beforehand with the path inspector? If you think there is an issue, please email the flight plan to [email protected].


We actually implemented this behavior by design. The idea is that Waypoint Actions imply that the aircraft will need to stop at the waypoint to perform some action. Autopilot automatically changes the speed to input, and sets the speed to the minimum value so that the aircraft won't overshoot the waypoint by coming in too hot. If you want to move the speed back up, you can but it will probably result in a less than desirable fly behavior (overshooting).

Thanks for the explanation. The detail you provided do explain everything I was seeing. As far as the reduced speed to eliminate overshooting is concerned goes - I do hope you'll revisit that approach otherwise I'll need twice as many waypoints. As you said, a waypoint action implies that you need to stop on the waypoint (without overshooting) however I think that should be handled behind the scenes using active braking or a gradual deceleration as the waypoint is approached - but in my case, my waypoints are pretty far apart and if I couldn't use 35km/h when traveling between them - I wouldn't come close to completing the mission on a single battery.

This is probably related to the overshooting issue. It looks like you must have changed the speed of the Waypoint back to 35 km/h, thus causing the aircraft to overshoot. The Waypoint Action timer starts the instant the aircraft passes through the Waypoint, and in your case the aircraft had to turn back around to get back to the Waypoint after it overshot. Since the focus strategy was set to direction / course, and the course was now going back the opposite direction (flying back toward the waypoint), it was technically doing what it was told to do. In the future we may add logic to the flight controller to avoid the overshooting by performing mandatory deceleration (even though you have asked it to fly at 35 km/h), but for now you need to specify the incoming speed yourself (or leave it at the speed Autopilot chooses when you enable the Waypoint Action).

This is as you suggested definitely a result of the backtracking due to overshooting.

What is the purpose of having the 2 different timers - one on the hover time and another on the photo taking? How should I use them together to make sure I come to a full stop and get the shot I require?

I requested participation in the beta program the day before you released your last update. I had to email my quest using the support link because I couldn't submit the request using your webpage. It wouldn't allow me to submit the request without specifying my email address - and when I did specify it, I received an error message saying "email already on file"

In any case / I did not get a response to my inquiry. What's the best way forward for joining the beta program and testing then LCMC features?

 

[Tenly]

Warning When engaged, Autopilot will navigate directly to the First Waypoint at the Altitude configured for that Waypoint. It is important to ensure that the entire Flight Path between the starting location and the First Waypoint is clear of obstructions at all altitudes.

The above is a warning from your flight school. I'm curious as to why you wouldn't engage altitude ptiority when engaging a mission. For example - if the Phantom is on the ground - otherwise below the altitude of the first waypoint - first ascend straight up to the altitude of the first waypoint. If the Phantom is already higher than the first waypoint, it should remain at that height until directly over it and then descend to the waypoint altitude only when immediately over top of the first waypoint.

A feature like that would give me the comfort to go ahead and engage from the ground - or from anyplace else for that matter - but as things are now - I always recommend people takeoff manually and fly to an unobstructed location near to the first waypoint before engaging.

 

[Hangar]

Thanks for the explanation. The detail you provided do explain everything I was seeing. As far as the reduced speed to eliminate overshooting is concerned goes - I do hope you'll revisit that approach otherwise I'll need twice as many waypoints. As you said, a waypoint action implies that you need to stop on the waypoint (without overshooting) however I think that should be handled behind the scenes using active braking or a gradual deceleration as the waypoint is approached - but in my case, my waypoints are pretty far apart and if I couldn't use 35km/h when traveling between them - I wouldn't come close to completing the mission on a single battery.

Of course it would be nice if it happened all automatically, we just didn't have time to get it in for the first cut of Waypoint actions . I promise it will be revisited.

What is the purpose of having the 2 different timers - one on the hover time and another on the photo taking? How should I use them together to make sure I come to a full stop and get the shot I require?

Not everyone wants to perform camera actions while performing Waypoint actions. If you do want to take a still picture, the idea was to not activate the camera until half-way through the hover period to give the aircraft time to stabilize.

What's the best way forward for joining the beta program and testing then LCMC features?

Just email support again and we will clear it up.

For example - if the Phantom is on the ground - otherwise below the altitude of the first waypoint - first ascend straight up to the altitude of the first waypoint.

This is the behavior, with the exception that once the aircraft is within altitude priority meters, it will start to travel to the first Waypoint. Does FS not make that clear?

 

[Tenly]

Of course it would be nice if it happened all automatically, we just didn't have time to get it in for the first cut of Waypoint actions . I promise it will be revisited.

Not everyone wants to perform camera actions while performing Waypoint actions. If you do want to take a still picture, the idea was to not activate the camera until half-way through the hover period to give the aircraft time to stabilize.

Just email support again and we will clear it up.

This is the behavior, with the exception that once the aircraft is within altitude priority meters, it will start to travel to the first Waypoint. Does FS not make that clear?

A pretty cool video I made yesterday with Autopilot's "FOLLOW" mode and an Airspace object...

 

[Tenly]

Of course it would be nice if it happened all automatically, we just didn't have time to get it in for the first cut of Waypoint actions . I promise it will be revisited.

Not everyone wants to perform camera actions while performing Waypoint actions. If you do want to take a still picture, the idea was to not activate the camera until half-way through the hover period to give the aircraft time to stabilize.

Cool - thanks for the explanation. It wasn't obvious to me whether the two timers were overlapping or sequential.

Just email support again and we will clear it up.

This is the behavior, with the exception that once the aircraft is within altitude priority meters, it will start to travel to the first Waypoint. Does FS not make that clear?

No - I didn't mean to use the actual altitude priority or min altitude values. I mean to use the altitude of Waypoint 1 as the target altitude and instead of plotting a diagonal course from takeoff location to 1st waypoint - just go straight vertical until the phantom is at the waypoint altitude and then go horizontal from there. In almost all cases of engaging while on the ground, it would remove risk.

As for your question about flight school - I've read it cover to cover 3 times and I did not realize that the current implementation of the "waypoint engage" will rise immediately to the minimum altitude threshold. That's great if it does. I'll test that out the next time I fly. Where in flight school does it cover that?

 

[Hangar]

Cool - thanks for the explanation. It wasn't obvious to me whether the two timers were overlapping or sequential.

The UI labels the Waypoint Action timer as Duration and the Camera Action time as Start At. Open to suggestions on how to make this more clear.

I did not realize that the current implementation of the "waypoint engage" will rise immediately to the minimum altitude threshold. That's great if it does. I'll test that out the next time I fly. Where in flight school does it cover that?

Just to be very clear, if the first Waypoint is set to 100 ft, and the default altitude priority is in affect, the aircraft will take off and fly straight up for 51 ft and then start moving horizontally and vertically towards Waypoint 1. The section of FS that states this is the one you already linked to, but it makes an assumption that the reader knows altitude priority will apply. We will update it to mention altitude priority.

 

[2nd2non]

The nice thing about features like 'altitude priority' is it gives the user maximum flexibility.
- if user wants to record a mission with a smooth transition between WPs with different altitudes, then set the parameter low
- if user is more interested in camera functions at/near waypoints and has obstructions between WPs then set the parameters high
I love planning missions based on each of these scenarios. Kinda makes it fun to design

 

[With The Birds]

No updates since the update on April 8. To clarify however, if you enable LCMC, Autopilot will not be affected by the RTH issue.

Appreciated and understood, thank you. I have no need for flying missions beyond RC link however would like the comfort of knowing RTH will initiate on lost signal (RC dies, unexoected interference etc). It is, or at least should be, clearly evident what additional functionality your custom FC makes availanle. Hopefully DJI will get this sorted out.

 

[Tenly]

The UI labels the Waypoint Action timer as Duration and the Camera Action time as Start At. Open to suggestions on how to make this more clear.

Maybe just include the suggestion about using it to wait 2 or 3 seconds to give the aircraft time to fully settle?

Just to be very clear, if the first Waypoint is set to 100 ft, and the default altitude priority is in affect, the aircraft will take off and fly straight up for 51 ft and then start moving horizontally and vertically towards Waypoint 1. The section of FS that states this is the one you already linked to, but it makes an assumption that the reader knows altitude priority will apply. We will update it to mention altitude priority.

Great safety feature and I did NOT know it was active in this situation!

 

[Zigs]

I've been gone over the weekend and the news regarding LCMC is very welcome. Also, I have found it's good practice to clear the deck (restart my ipad) before undertaking a new Auto Pilot session. It seems when I've experienced unexpected behavior it's usually been because I haven't done that.

Quick question on waypoint: Is there a way to automatically have video restart after designating a waypoint as a photo?